A Spanish firm contracted by Kenya Railways to supply spare parts, maintenance and training services for new locomotives is embroiled in a price-fixing scandal in Brazil.
Construccion y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles SA (CAF), which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment, is at the centre of a Brazilian investigation in which some of Europe’s leading engineering firms are alleged to have defrauded the country’s taxpayers of billions of shillings by forming cartels in the Brazilian public transport sector.
CAF, together with two other firms Alstom (French) and Siemens (German), are accused of paying bribes to Brazilian public officials involved in setting up the cartels in which companies colluded to win contracts for building and maintenance of trains and metro lines.
Kenya Railways Corporation, however, said it will undertake “further due diligence” on the Spanish railway equipment manufacturer expected to be part of wider Sh10 billion plans to decongest the city.
Kenya Railways had said in a detailed notice published in the dailies two weeks ago that CAF would be tasked with maintaining, training of its staff locally and to provide spare parts for railway coaches that the State wants to buy from another Spanish State-owned rail transportation company, Serveia Ferroviaria de Mallorca (SFM).
The refurbished trains or DMUs (diesel multiple units) are part of a State plan to upgrade Nairobi’s mass transport system and decongest Nairobi’s traffic jams.
The second-hand trains are expected to cost taxpayers Sh1.5 billion. Kenya Railways had earlier said each train has a lifespan of 23 to 25 years. The decongestion project was approved by the Cabinet last year.
“They are the manufacturers of the equipment that we had gone to inspect. We had gone to see them to look for their capacity and their willingness to continue providing spare parts,” said Mucemi Gakuru, a consultant for Kenya Railways.
“If we are to engage them we would actually request them to give us technical support in terms of training, in terms of overhauling the equipment or in providing spare parts.
This will be subject to further due diligence,” added Mr Gakuru, who responded to the Business Daily’s queries in his capacity as a technical assistant or consultant to the Kenya Railways upgrade project.
The Kenya Railways management in the published statement said the new trains were compatible with its meter-gauge system and can be brought into service “very quickly.
“The equipment is 6100 series DMUs from SFM Majorca, whose Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is CAF. The equipment is being acquired together with a comprehensive spare parts package. It is well maintained and has gone through the necessary overhaul as per manufacturers specifications. It should provide service for another 20 – 25 years,’’ said Kenya Railways.
“Given that world over (Original Equipment Manufacturers) OEMs have shifted focus to standard gauge rolling stock, it’s important for us to ensure that the rolling stock will be supported in terms of spares.
KRC has therefore contacted CAF who is the manufacturer to ensure that they’ll continue to support these rolling stock with spare parts,” added Kenya Railways.